The pumpkin craze is real folks! Is it just me, or is pumpkin everywhere this year?! Pumpkin Spice Cookies, Pumpkin Spice Cereal, Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter, and of course, the iconic Pumpkin Spice Latte. It’s a bit overwhelming – I even have a Pinterest board dedicated solely to Pumpkin.

In an effort to keep up with the Pumpkin-wielding Jonses, I’m throwing this Pumpkin Risotto with Goat Cheese & Dried Cranberries into the mix. While some people may have a pumpkin obsession, my obsession generally lies with risotto – Like my Lemon Mascarpone Risotto, Beet Risotto and Grilled Shrimp Risotto. Not only do I like eating risotto, but I thoroughly enjoy the process of making it – Mainly because I get to stand over a hot stove when it’s freezing cold outside. Freezing cold = 60 degrees and below in my book.

The process of making risotto is easy, but it does take some babysitting because you need to “feed” the risotto. We’re feeding the risotto with a ladle full of stock time after time, letting it fully absorb between each addition. The process takes about 20 minutes from start to finish, and it’s a full evolution. The risotto starts as hard grains of rice, then it becomes more plump, and then, through all the stirring and the feeding, it takes on the most incredible creamy texture that’s tasty on it’s own, but also totally customizable with any ingredients of your choosing.

For this version – We’re going full on Fall. The pumpkin and dried cranberries just call out Thanksgiving to me. Plus, I’m making this risotto totally meat free, meaning that it would be a perfect option to serve for a vegetarian Thanksgiving.

The creamy pumpkin lends a rich, earthy flavor to the mix, the goat cheese adds tang and creaminess, and the dried cranberries give zing and add their beautiful color to the dish.

What’s your favorite pumpkin dish or product of the season? I’d love to hear in the comments below.

Pumpkin Risotto Recipe

Pumpkin Risotto with Goat Cheese & Dried Cranberries

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: pumpkin risotto

Prep Time:5minutes

Cook Time:30minutes

Total Time:35minutes

Servings:4

Calories:478kcal

Author:Platings & Pairings - Inspired by Giada De Laurentiis

This Pumpkin Risotto with Goat Cheese and Cranberries is a perfect fall comfort food. It’s rich and creamy and perfect for an elegant weeknight meal. Or try serving this to your vegetarian guests at Thanksgiving.

Instructions

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the stock and pumpkin over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to low. Cover and keep warm.

Melt the butter in a large dutch oven or saucepan over medium heat. Once the foaming subsides, add the shallot and salt. Cook until softened, 2-3 minutes. Add the thyme and rice and cook for one minute longer.

Add the white wine vinegar and a ladle of warm stock and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated. Add another ladle of stock, and continue cooking until evaporated again. Continue cooking, adding a ladle of stock at a time, and allowing to evaporate in between each addition. Cook until the rice is done, but has a bite to it, it should be creamy in texture, and will take about 20-25 minutes.

Mix in the parmesan, half of the parsley, and nutmeg. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with the remaining parsley, goat cheese and dried cranberries. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Facts

Pumpkin Risotto with Goat Cheese & Dried Cranberries

Amount Per Serving

Calories 478Calories from Fat 90

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 10g15%

Saturated Fat 6g30%

Cholesterol 26mg9%

Sodium 867mg36%

Potassium 219mg6%

Total Carbohydrates 78g26%

Dietary Fiber 4g16%

Sugars 12g

Protein 19g38%

Vitamin A196.3%

Vitamin C3.7%

Calcium15.5%

Iron23.8%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

If you loved this Pumpkin Risotto recipe I would appreciate it so much if you would give this recipe a star review! Also, be sure to snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #platingsandpairings and tagging me @platingsandpairings.

Nutrition Facts

Pumpkin Risotto with Goat Cheese & Dried Cranberries

Amount Per Serving

Calories 478Calories from Fat 90

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 10g15%

Saturated Fat 6g30%

Cholesterol 26mg9%

Sodium 867mg36%

Potassium 219mg6%

Total Carbohydrates 78g26%

Dietary Fiber 4g16%

Sugars 12g

Protein 19g38%

Vitamin A196.3%

Vitamin C3.7%

Calcium15.5%

Iron23.8%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Wine Pairings for Pumpkin Risotto:

Barolo has a firm tannins and great body that will cut through the creaminess of this dish.

With its buttery notes, Chardonnay pairs nicely with the creamy risotto and pumpkin.

Bubbles are always fun – Especially for a special occasion. Try Cava, Prosecco or Champagne.

There are basically two kinds of people. The pumpkin haters and the pumpkin EVERYTHING people. I love to see you embracing the inevitable of this flavorful season! 😉 And I love the combination of flavors you have here! Canned pumpkin puree is pretty darn bland, but I love how you sweetened it up with the cranberries and add the tang from the goat cheese! Also, this would be an awesome starter course for Thanksgiving!!! Yum!

To be honest Erin, it’s been a week since I’ve cooked a proper meal, but I feel like you may have inspired me to get out to this funk and hop on the seasonal bandwagon! Thanks so much for sharing this delicious recipe 😀

I made this and paired with pecan-crusted grouper—the flavors were so amazing my fiancé and I have vowed to cook it for our next gathering with friends! The richness of the Parmesan pairs fantastically with the lightness of the feta..and the dried cranberries were such a great component too! I added a pinch of white pepper and about 1/8tsp cayenne. Delicious! Thank you so much for this recipe!

Hi Mary – I’m not quite sure that the flavors would go well together… If you’d still like to pair it with risotto, maybe try this Lemon Mascarpone Risotto instead. It’s quite rich, so I might also pair it with this arugula salad. Hope this helps!

I’ve made this two times, the first attempt wasn’t bad but I’ve been missing that wine flavour from the risotto. The next time I used 1/2 cup of dry white wine like with a classic risotto, left the vinegar out and it was waaaaay better! I also like everything creamy so I just melted the goat’s cheese in, it was heaven. Never thought of pairing pumpkin and risotto before, thanks for the idea!

Really surprised by the amount i got out of this recipe, had doubled the quantities of everything hoping to get approx 10 meals to last us the week…came out with 6 medium size portions, so felt like a bit of stuffing around for not much result! I did make fresh puree though as i would avoid processed food wherever possible.

What a bummer Ali! I’ve never had that happen. It sounded like you did everything correct, even adding more stock. Perhaps your heat was not on high enough? You should also be sure that the stock is warm when you’re adding it.

No joke, my husband said this dish was “the food of the gods.” It was really delicious. The only note I would make is that it’s important that your saucepan is medium sized. Mine was really big, so the liquid evaporated too fast. Nothing to do with the recipe, just a note on technique because I’m a risotto newb. Thanks so much, this will become a fall regular!

This is one of my favorite recipes ever – easy enough to make, but impressive enough to serve to anyone! Warm and comforting and savory and rich I honestly don’t have enough good things to say! Thank you so much for sharing!

Hi there, thanks for sharing this. I was planning on making this tomorrow for Christmas so I’m not sure if you’ll be able to get back to me so quickly, but I was a bit confused about the stock. Step one says to add stock and the purée, but later on we add warm stock to the pan. The ingredients mentions four cups, so is it 2 cups with the purée in step one then add 2 more cups gradually later? Apologies for my confusion, new to cooking but loving this site. Thank you.

Hi Judes – I’m sorry I wasn’t able to respond sooner! I hope you were able to make the recipe. To clarify, you mix together the stock and pumpkin puree. That mixture gets added to your rice. Hope that helps!

I’ve made this twice (I love the flavor), but it had a weird bitter aftertaste both times. I used homemade stock, and I thought that was the problem, but I had the aftertaste again tonight using stock that tasted fine. Any ideas what could cause this taste? I was thinking maybe the nutmeg or the parmesan I used (I just used pre grated, did you grate it yourself?) I really like the combo of flavors here, so I’m hoping to get this figured out

Delicious! Didn’t change a thing except leaving out the parsley because I don’t like it, and boiling/mashing my own pumpkin because pumpkin puree is not available in my country. That in itself is a miracle, because I always feel the need to change 100 things about a recipe, but this was good as it is! Only complaint is that the portion size is a bit small if you eat this as a full meal. Definitely add some greens on the side!

[…] Amazing Pumpkin Risotto With Goats Cheese and Cranberries – how divine does not sound, plus it looks really pretty on your dinner table too. It would be a winner if you were having people over for dinner. The author even goes as far as to recommend what bottle of wine you should drink alongside this dish. […]

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